The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-24
ODE OYSTER AN DE COON"
The Experience of a Hungry Coon
Who Went Oyster Hunting.
From, the Missouri Republican.


From the Missouri Republican.
New York, Oct. 15.-Frank g. Wheaton,
who used to be politician in New Orleans.
but is now handler of all sorts of patents
in this city, tells the following story:
"We used to have some great oyster sup
pers in New Orleans. The oysters when
was there were so big that dozen would do
for a supper for half dozen men. Some
of the Bayou Cook and Bayou Barrataria
oysters were foot long. OF course they
were too large to eat raw, but they made
an excellent fry. The best oysters | ever
ate came from the edge of the Gulf OF
Mexico, in the Mississippi Sound and Lake
Pontchartrain. before the Bonnie Care
crevasse sent the fresh water of the Missis-
sippi river out into the lake and destroyed
the flavor of the bivalves. Do you know
raccoons are exceedingly fond of oysters!
Well, they are. One moonlight
night l was standing on the gallery of the
lighthouse at Cat Island, down near the
gulf A party of us were on our way to
Goose Point to hunt brant and curlew, and
as we knew Sid Wilkinson, the lighthouse
keeper, we stopped over at Cat Island one
evening. TWAS beautiful night, and though
it was in December a man scarcely felt the
need of an overcoat. The tide was at ebb,
and Cat Island spit doomed up in the moon
light like long, black strip of mud running
into the sound. This spit or promontory
was mass OF oysters, which sputtered aud
snapped as they took in the atmosphere and
held social converse with each other. You
could walk out a quarter of a mile over them
without getting your feet wet and eat all
you wanted. That is, if you could open
them, for Just as soon as the oyster would
see you he'd shut up his shell with a snap
like the breaking of a twig. 1t was like
walking over dry brush, the way those
a. KhaD ool, Of
one.
Cat Island is full of coons,' continued
Mr.. Wheaton, taking a fresh start "How
they got there | don't know, as the island is
twelve miles from the nearest point of the
main land. l reckon they voyaged on logs
Well. this night, while we were standing on
the gallery, we saw about dozen coons
creep out of the spit hunting for oysters.
One old coon sneaked up behind big oyster
that had his shell wide open and stuck his
paw in to get the succulent bivalve. Quick
as a flash the oyster clapped down on him,
and the coon yelled He'd been there be-
fore, though, and began to tug at the oyster
to get him loose from the mud and sand,
but the oyster was one of a cluster and
was too deeply imbedded to be moved.
He hung to the coon like grim death, and it
looked as if the coon would be kept pris-
oncr. We were so interested in the struggle
we stayed to watch it. The tide turned,
and at 4 o'clock in the morning all the other
coons left the beach as the water was too
high. 1t got higher and higher; little waves
were curling over the spit and it looked as
if the coon would be drowned He made a
last desperate effort to move that oyster
and then deliberately bit his paw off. He
left the end of it in the oyster and hobbled
off on three legs. Sid and ran down, and
after a search of half an hour found the
spunky oyster as he was trying to eject the
coon's paw and captured him. | reckon that
Sid has that c0On's paw yet"